When we departed the University I was expecting to arrive at a Czech farm that commercially produced rabbits for meat consumption. On this day, the surprise when our bus arrived was definitely for the good. Within our first 20 minutes at Rabbit, it was very obvious that we were bellied up to the table in a corporate boardroom where big decisions have been made to completely “close the cycle” in several sectors of Czech Agriculture. Rabbit is the second largest Agriculture Company in the Czech Republic that counts pork, poultry, layer, rabbit, dairy and crop production as sources of income in a company with four primary shareholders. Crops such as clover, wheat, barley, corn, and poppy seed dot the landscape of thousands of hectares and much of their production is used as feedstuffs for large-scale livestock production. While the fluid milk produced from 3,500 cows is sold to the market before bottling, 50% of the pork, chicken and rabbit products are sold direct in more than 150 retail stores – owned by Rabbit – across the State.
Our visit began with a quick video orientation of the company and was followed by an up-close and personal tour of one of their chicken slaughter facilities. Like many of our experiences in Europe, there were stark contrasts between our tour of this facility and our tour last year of PSF in Milan…and the contrasts don’t begin and end with one slaughtering pork and the other poultry. For starters, I’m referring to loose reigns on security and safety as we meandered through the shackles of chicken. For the first time in all my experiences of touring slaughter facilities, we were allowed to take photos and many occasions we didn’t need zoom. At PSF, every square foot was occupied by assembly lines, processed meat, packaged good or at the very least, employees. During our tour today I was amazed at the amount of unused space in all facets of the facility. In addition, a large percentage of the chicken was finished for retail sale at this facility which resulted in several meat products we don’t see in America.
We didn’t stop at poultry. Our next stop was at one of several dairy farms within the company where a DeLaval milking ‘robot’ is used to milk cows with precision.
We observed what many feel is the future of milking as the laser lined up each cup I was impressed. More was to be learned about dairying at another stop so we stepped into the adjacent wheat field and fired questions at Rabbit’s director of crops. When asked about GMO’s he replied, “If everything is perfect with regard to fertilizer, etc, we don’t think we need GMO’s” but in the same breath he stated he would like to use GMO’s but cannot. Perhaps the starkest contrast to America with regard to crop production is their disregard for soil conservation. We haven’t seen a terrace since arriving in Europe and its very obvious when looking at the direction they’ve planted corn, the average farmer here isn’t concerned. After several kilometers of poppy seed fields, potatoes and of course wheat, we arrived at the largest dairy farm within the Rabbit system where more than 1,000 cows are milked. This particular farm has a new free-stall barn which resembles an American barn in type and nearly in size. The stalls are bedded with recycled manure that is generated by an on farm separator. All manure on the farm ends up at the separator which sends the liquid to an enormous storage tank and the solids are left to heat naturally until the bacteria is killed and is ready to be used as bedding. Arguably the most impressive sighting on the farm was the silage pile.
This wasn’t an ordinary silage pile and everyone who touched it agreed…it was the most packed pile of silage we’d ever seen. A true farm boy enjoys the aroma of silage and this group from Missouri spent plenty of time admiring this work of art. Our tour ended back where we started and we were treated to a delicious lunch which included Czech beer. In fact, all meals here include Czech beer and the calorie overload continues. The centerpiece of lunch was a chicken kabob that is sold in Rabbit retail stores and in this writer’s opinion, its worth buying for another meal. After lunch another question and answer session ensued with none other than the Director – or equivalent to CEO – Mr. Jandejsek. He spent his entire day with our group and we were treated like royalty. With the translation help of PhD student Jan Hucko, our appointed translator and tour guide, we asked questions until we were too full of food and information to ask anymore. He explained that Rabbit was acquired because rabbit meat, the only animals grown and processed then, was a way to reach Western markets and take advantage of higher currency. In the first year, the company employed 23 people and had gross sales of $1.5 million. Today, twenty years later, the company employs 2,000 people with gross sales over $350 million. Sitting around the table many of us listened and watched with admiration as a humble man explained his vision for Czech Agriculture, yet I couldn’t help but realize we’ve seen this before. In America, we’ve seen integration in all facets of agriculture and most often it’s ridiculed, downgraded and beat up at the coffee shop and in the press. But here in Czech land, Rabbit is prospering with a ‘closed cycle’ and their future looks bright.
This day was the perfect experience for a group of agriculture enthusiasts from Missouri. We were exposed to all aspects of Czech agriculture, all under one roof as we’d say in America and it was truly enjoyable. We all left with something learned and for this writer, it was exactly what I hoped to see half way around the world.
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